Bennett Is New Queen Of Distance Swimming

Evans 6th In Final Race

ATLANTA - — Three-time Olympian Janet Evans, the queen of distance swimming for 10 years, bid farewell to the sport, dethroned by teen-aged teammate Brooke Bennett on Thursday night at the Olympic Games.

On one of the most emotional and historical nights of the swimming competition at Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, the milestones were fast and furious.

Evans finished sixth in the 800-meter freestyle in 8:38.91, 21.69 seconds off her 7-year-old world record. Her bid to become the first woman to win five gold medals in the Summer Games fell short. At 24, this four-time Olympic gold medalist and three-time world record-holder is the only woman in history to win back-to-back Olympic and World Championship titles.

"It was bittersweet," Evans said. "This race is not going to distinguish my career. I think 10 years to be a distance swimmer is kind of remarkable."

Evans, who failed to make the final of Monday's 400-meter freestyle, qualified sixth for the 800-meter final in 8:38.08 with a hairline fracture in her right toe. She had eight shots of Novocain to numb the pain.

Bennett, 16, won the gold medal in the 800 freestyle in 8:27.69 and started what promises to be a brilliant career that could one day rival Evans.

"I think Janet is always going to be the queen of distance swimming," said Bennett, who plans to swim for Durant High School in Plant City after getting an Olympic rings tattoo on her right ankle and skydiving.

"Maybe I can share the spotlight with her in four more years," Bennett said.

Bennett's gold-medal performance was for a U.S. team projected to win no gold. The U.S. team has 22 total medals (10 gold, 10 silver and two bronze) heading into tonight's final competition.

In today's final day of competition, Ireland's superwoman Michelle Smith tries to win her fourth individual gold medal in the 200-meter butterfly, her strongest event. Smith can tie East German superstar Kristen Otto's four individual gold medals at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.

Russian Alexander Popov, the fastest swimmer in the world, solidified his place in history by winning the 50-meter freestyle. He became the first swimmer to win back-to-back Olympic freestyle events since Johnny Weissmuller (1924-1928). For the second time in three days, Popov, the Russian Rocket, powered his way to victory by 0.2 seconds over rival Gary Hall Jr. in the fastest field ever assembled.

"If winning a first Olympic medal you become famous and winning a second Olympic medal you become great, then winning a third you become history," said Popov, already looking ahead to the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

Hungary's world record-holder Krisztina Egerszegi won her third consecutive gold medal in the 200-meter backstroke in 2:07.83 to tie Australian great Dawn Fraser, denying Whitney Hedgepeth of her last shot at an individual gold medal.

Trina Jackson won her first gold medal of the Games swimming leadoff on the winning 800-meter freestyle relay in the event's Olympic debut. The former Pine Crest and Mission Bay swimmer swam a 1:59.71 split and, after the medal ceremony, met with President Clinton.

Former Fort Lauderdale Swim Team member Sheila Taormina was also a relay member.

Hungary's Attila Czene won the 200-meter individual medley in an Olympic record-breaking time of 1:59.91 and denied Finland's world record-holder Jani Sievinen his last shot at individual gold.

American Tom Dolan, still weary from his gold-medal performance in the 400 IM and breathing problems, was a disappointing seventh (2:03.89), just behind U.S. teammate Greg Burgess (2:02.56).

"My body just gave out," Dolan said. "If I had won three gold medals it would have been awfully hard for me to get back into the pool in September."

Two-time Olympian and former Pine Crest swimmer Ricky Busquets of Puerto Rico set his second national record in three days in the 50 freestyle and finished eighth in 22.73. He set the record with a morning prelim time of 22.61.

Three-time Olympian Raimundas Mazuolis of Lithuania and the Coral Springs Swim Club suffered one of his biggest disappointments, missing the 50-meter finals by 0.3 seconds. Once the fastest swimmer in the world in 1994, Mazuolis could manage only 18th in 22.98.

"If you don't have the hunger, you fall a tiny bit short," said Lithuania coach Michael Lohberg. "That's the difference between swimming it and racing it. I am sad for him because we put a lot of work in."